The explosive plan was drawn up at the highest levels of the British Government as fears mounted over how to remove the dictator during the Libyan conflict.

Image – Wikimedia Commons

Andrew Mitchell, the then International Development Secretary, was dispatched to build covert contacts with the controversial regime in Equatorial Guinea.

The plan was never executed as Gaddafi was killed in October 2011, although there has always been speculation that this happened as he was leaving the country.

The details of the Gaddafi exit strategy are disclosed in In It Together by Matthew d’Ancona. The book, which will be serialised in the Daily and Sunday Telegraph this weekend is based on interviews with key Government figures and discloses hitherto unknown details about the key moments for the Coalition.